Bell Tower Center

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Bell Tower Center

Houston businessman Stan Stearns, Jr. and his wife traveled frequently to Europe and became strong admirers of carillons, reinforced by their membership in the St. John The Divine Episcopal Church and its Petit & Fritsen carillon.   On one of his European trips they bought a 47-bell traveling carillon built by Eijsbouts.  It was shipped to Houston and parked at the Hillside Village shopping center in the Spring Garden section of Houston that Stearns was developing until a suitable bell tower could be constructed.   Six new bells were added and the instrument was dedicated on December 8, 1991 by Carol Jickling Lens and Gene Lasater,

The Hillside Village shopping center was renamed the Bell Tower Center.

References
2003 "Stanley 'Stan' Daniel Stearns, Jr.,"  Bulletin of the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America 52:54 (2003)
Stanley Daniel Stearns. Jr . , was born in 1942 in Miami, Florida. A musician and prominent Texas businessman, he felt that the gift of a carillon and tower to a shopping area he built in the Spring Branch section of Houston, Texas, where he resided at the time, would be a special addition to the community.
It is believed that one of his earliest associations with carillon music came while he was a member of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston , which has a Petit & Fritsen instrument of 42 bells dating from 1953.
Mr. Steams ' company. Valeo Instruments of Houston, manufacturers of scientific instruments and equipment, has offices in Switzerland. During his many visits to Europe, he and his wife Judy often visited carillons.
It was on one of these European trips that he purchased the 48 bells and playing apparatus of a “major third” traveling carillon built by Royal Eijsbouts of Holland . He took it to Houston and while the tower was being built, parked the carillon on its trailer so that it could be seen and played. The tower is located in a garden on the corner of the Bell Tower Center property.
A feature of the tower is the four Swiss clocks on each side. He and his wife brought the clocks back from Europe.
He increased the number of bells to 53, and installed the carillon in a new brick and limestone clock tower on the same site. The tower is just 57 feet tall. The bell chamber has very large openings, which permit all the bells and mechanical action to be during recitals from the ground by listeners.
The carillon was officially dedicated on December 8, 1991, with recitals played by Carol Jickling Lens and Gene Lasater, and on December 14 with a recital played by Aime Lombaert of Belgium

© 2023 Morris A. Pierce